Stretchable footwear construction



Aug. 5, 1958 l. 1. ARNOLD 2,845,723

STRETCHABLE FOOTWEAR CONSTRUCTiQN Filed Jan. 9, 1956 IN V EN TOR.

MQW

United States Patent C STRETCHABLE FOOTWEAR CONSTRUCTION Israel I. Arnold, West Newton, Mass.

Application January 9, 1956, Serial No. 558,071

2 Claims. (Cl. 369) The present invention relates to an improved footwear construction and in particular relates to a sole capable of being stretched to accommodate feet of different sizes.

An object of the present invention is to provide footwear such as a slipper or slipper sock combination in which the footwear is adapted to be stretched over a wide range of sizes so that it may be worn on any sized foot within a wide range of sizes.

The present invention provides a sole structure in which the components, preferably an outer sole, inner sole and filler sole are all formed of material which readily stretches up to substantially twice the length of the normal length of the material. The outer sole, insole, and filler-sole are preferably stitched together along their periphery to the upper of the footwear to form an overall structure adapted to be stretched over a wide range of sizes.

These and other objects of the present invention will be more clearly understood when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the invention, and

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the invention taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The following description although referring particularly to the preferred forms of the invention, namely the combination as used in slippers and slipper socks, may also be applied to other types of footwear.

Referring particularly to the drawings, there is shown a top portion 1, preferably of knitted material adapted to fit around the wearers ankles. This top portion 1 may of course be of any desired length to extend for example up to the calf of the wearer. It may be attached to the upper 2 of the slipper by any conventional means, such as an overlooking or overedge stitch 3, extending entirely around the periphery of the upper.

t is to be noted that the top portion 1 must be capable of being stretched but not to such a great extent as the upper and soles hereinafter described and for that reason may also be made of other stretchable materials such as a nylon Helanca stretch fabric,

The upper 2 is formed of a stretchable material adapted to be stretched over a Wide range of sizes, such as for example, a nylon Helanca fabric combination or elasticized fabric. Also provided in this construction is an outer sole 4, an inner sole 5, and a filler-sole 6. The outer sole 4 is also formed of a stretchable material, preferably of the same type of material as the upper 2, but may be of other material. This outer sole 4, as Well as the upper 2, may also be formed of an elasticized fabric, such as woven rubber fabric. However in the preferable form of the invention, both the upper and outer soles are formed of the nylon Helanca fabric combination as stated. 9'

ICC

Positioned over the outer sole 4 is a highly stretchable resilient filler-sole 6 formed, preferably of a thin layer, approximately A" thick of foam rubber or some other equivalent resilient cellular material. Over this foam rubber filler-sole is positioned an insole 5 preferably made of terry cloth. The preferred form of terry cloth contemplated is one in which the longitudinally extending threads are elastic to provide an increased stretch along the length of the slipper sock.

It is to be noted however that this insole may also be made of fabric material, stretchable substantially to twice its length.

The insole, filler-sole and outersole, positioned one above the other, are stitched along their periphery to the lower peripheral edge of the upper by stitching 7, preferably an overlocking or an overedge stitching. The slipper sock assembled, provides a structure in which the soles are readily stretched to approximately twice their length with sufficient stretchability being provided in the upper and in the top 1 to permit this stretching to take place without the tearing of any of the materials therein contained.

As a modification of the present invention, the terry cloth top 5 may, if desired, be cemented to the foam rubber filler-sole. This structure however is not as preferred as the one illustrated above, as it does not provide the stretchability of the previously mentioned modification.

Further, for an even greater stretch, the filler-sole 6 should be secured by stitching 7 to the other soles at the toe and heel only providing an even greater amount of stretch to the overall structure. This structure thereby provides a free floating filler-sole tacked at either end.

The description set forth above refers primarily to a slipper sock combination, however the invention as thus described may also be applied to slippers, or other type of footwear.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A footwear construction adapted to fit a foot over a range of different sizes having an upper, an inner sole and an outer sole of highly-stretchable resilient fabric capable of being stretched to substantially twice their normal lengths, a filler-sole of a sheet of cellular highlyresilient compressible highly-stretchable material disposed between said inner sole and outer sole, and means securing said soles together only at their periphery comprising overedge stitching permitting said soles to be stretched over a range of several sizes.

2. A construction as set forth in claim 1 wherein said upper, inner sole, outer sole, and filler-sole are separate elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,279,891 McCamish Sept. 24, 1918 1,749,254 Lippert Mar. 4, 1930 1,794,850 Hatch Mar. 3, 1931 ,215,135 Schulte Sept. 17, 1940 2,334,659 Van Arsdale et al Nov. 16, 1943 2,563,092 Zacks Aug. 7, 1951 2,586,045 Hoza Feb. 19, 1952 2,603,891 Cohn July 22, 1952 36,287 Heilbronner Apr. 28, 1953 2,798,311 Scholl July 9, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 478,269 Canada Nov. 6, 1951 Patented Aug. 5, 1958 

